‘Sijilat’ to make Bahrain most biz friendly in GCC

Manama : Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa yesterday launched the Sijilat Commercial Registration Portal, which will allow Bahrain to become the fastest place in the Gulf to start a business, and amongst the fastest in the world.

As part of the Government of Bahrain’s economic and fiscal reform programme, which began last year and aims to build on the Kingdom’s longstanding diversification efforts, the Sijilat initiative will reduce the complexity of the commercial registration and licensing procedures for all local and foreign investors.

Speaking at the launch at Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Prince Salman said: “We have long recognised that sustainable economic growth is driven by the private sector and that the reform will support a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that will allow the private sector to create sustainable wealth and high-value jobs now, and for posterity.” 

HRH the Crown Prince remarked that “the Sijilat portal is among a package of business reforms that are the largest Bahrain has seen in over 40 years.” “It eliminates the need for paperwork and integrates all relevant government organisations’ processes under one system.” 

Prince Salman added that the portal will allow investors to “establish a business within less than a day,” saying that “modernising administrative procedures, whist reducing recurrent expenditure and improving public services delivered to citizens, are at the heart of Bahrain’s economic and fiscal reform efforts.”